Process and apparatus for atomizing materials in a melted state



E. ODAM.

PROCESS-AND APPARATUS FOR ATOMTZING MATERIALS TN A MELTED STATE.

, APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2| 1919.

Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

E. 03AM, PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR ATOMIZING MATERIALS IN A MELTED STATE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 2,'1919.

1 $28,446. Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'UNrTED sTATEs PATENT onirica.

EUGNE oDAM, or PARIS, FRANCE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR ATOMIZING MATERIALS IN A MELTED STATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

Application led January 2, 1919. Serial No. 269,388.

for'Atomizing Materials in a Melted State;

and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to' which it appertains to malre and use the same.

. fuel and then atomized by the sudden ex-` 20 This invention relates to a process for atomizing materials su-ch as metals, chemical products, vitreous materials, etc.; while in a melted condition, according to which the said materials are first heated by the flame and gases produced by the combustion under pressure of a suitable solid, liquid or gaseous pansion of the' said gases in open air.

It further relates to an apparatus for carrying out the saidprocess, consisting, chiefly, of a chamber provided with a furnace suitable for the fuel employed, inwliich combustion is maintained under pressure, through which passes a pipe for conducting the molten material, the said chamber being furnished with an outlet nozzle into the middle of which extends the end or mouth of the said feed pipe and through which escape the combustion-gases, the sudden expansion of which in the open air causes the atomization of the material.

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawing, given by way of example, will enable the process and the mannerV of carrying'it out to be fully understood.

Figure l is a sectional view of one em. bodiment of the apparatus of the present invention and in which the process may be carried out, and

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are viewsv of the preferred embodiment, Fig. 2 being a vertical sectional View (with parts'in elevation), Fig. 3 arear elevation of the parts at the upper left-hand side of Fig. 2, and Fig.A 4 a cross-sectional view of Fig. 3. v

The apparatus consists of a chamber c formed by a metal wall b covered internally with a refractory lining c.

At its lower part the said chamber is provided with a gas burner l supplied by pipes e with combustible gas under pressure and by pipes f, g, with compressed air, the latter extending from a single pipe 71. to which is also connected a supplementary air pipe z' opening into the chamber a above the burner d. These various pipes are provided with cocks c1, f1, g1, 1, which allow of suitably regulating the proportion of combustible gas and compressed air.

At its upper part the chamber a is traversed by a pipe In through which flows the molten material coming lfrom a hopper Z, The material is poured into the hopper Z in molten condition, from any suitable crucible or furnace in which it has been melted, or is ladled from such a furnace into said hopper Z. This pipe terminates in a nozzle m .located in the middle of an outlet nozzle fn,

through which escape the gases .produced by the combustion under pressure maintained within the chamber a.

Plugs o and p are provided t0 afford access to the chamber a for lighting and cleaning purposes, etc.

In the embodiment of the apparatus l shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the chamber a is divided into two compartments a1, a? communicating with each other, one containing the furnace Z constituting the combustion chamber proper, and the other, traversed by the feed pipe c,-ancl provided with theoutlet nozzle n, `forming the chamber for heating fthe matefials under treatment and for the discharge of the gases, so as to allow of arranging the apparatus to suit particular cases and to facilitate the erection and dis- -mounting thereof.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows The burner d having been lighted and the combustlon propprly regulated by operating the various coc s e1, f1, g1, il the molten material is fed through the pipe le. Dur-ing lts passage through the said pipe it is heated by the flame and gases at a high temperature produced by the action of the burner. As it issues from the nozzle m it is atomized by the sudden expansion in the 'open air of the' gases of combustion escaping around the said nozzle through the outlet aperture of the nozzle n.

The higher the 'pressure of the gases of vcombustion in the-chamber a the finer is the state of division obtained.

The preliminary heating of the molten i materials is Very important as it -prevents them fromA solidifying, as ,they might toward the outlet of the nozzle m owing to the lowering of the temperature caused by the expansion of the gases.

It is obvious that instead of a gas burner a furnace can be employed fed with a suitable solid or liquid fuel and designed to al'- loW of maintaining combustion under pressure While adopting certain detail arrange ments necessitated by the nature of the fuel employed.

molten materials, previously brought to ,the

molten state, compmsing producing -a jet of gases produced 'by the ycombustion under pressurel of a fuel and introducing .they

molten material into -said jet, saidjet being concentric and parallel to the flow of said molten material into -said jet, said molten pipe lo may-be 1. A process for the pulyerization of" material vbeing vpulverized by the sudden expansion of sald gases in the air.

2. An apparatus of the character 'described, comprising. a conduit for melted material, 'and an exit nozzle for combustion gases under pressure, said nozzle surround. mg the extremity of said conduit, the in-` terior Walls of said nozzle being cylindrical and concentric to the exterior surface of said lconduit, in such manner that the gas escapes parallelly to the flow of the fused material, whereby toA entrain it at the same time that the gases produce the division and pulverization of said material by their eX- pansion into the free air.

3. An'apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a combustion chamber, and said combustion chamber having an eXit Which forms the gas exit nozzle. i

4. An'apparatus according to claim' 2,'

comprising a combustion' chamber and a separate chamber for the combustion gases, communicating W1th said combustion chamber, and surrounding said melted material f condui i EUGNE oDAM. f 

